Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

But what happens when the rainy day AND the Monday are the same thing? Fling myself off the 9th floor balcony? This is such weird weather. Anyway, thanks to an anonymous benefactor (to you not to me) I received some shorts last night which I promptly read because seriously, reading shorts vs doing something like cleaning up the kitchen, laundry or paying attention to my child, well, no contest really.

Only Human by Glyn Soitiño (87 pages)



This is the follow-up to Out of the Blue which I adored. This is the story of Seth (Zahir's construct he brought to life) and Officer Mike who had a crush on Aiden. It starts where it left off with Seth, him figuring out how to be human and finding a way to meet Mike who is deeply in the closet because he's a cop. They end up meeting when Mike breaks his finger trying to fix his Jeep and Seth takes him to the hospital. They then start a weekend relationship spending the time at Mike's Grandpa's cabin. Things are going pretty well when one night at the bar Mike overhears Aiden freaking out when he finds out that Seth is a construct and that Zahir brought him to life. Of course Mike wants to know what's going on and when they tell him the truth he freaks out and tells Seth he's not real and runs off. I really liked that Seth stood up for himself. He may only have been 6 weeks old as he said, but is more mature. Seth then plans to leave town when finally Mike's boss tells him to get his head out of his ass and do something. I think Seth should have let him dangle longer, he was a total ass, but it's a short story. I don't remember Zahir being quite the air-head but on the whole it was a fun little story about having to decide when to change your life when you find the right guy. There was a fair bit of humour as Seth tried to figure out the human world. So if you read the first one I think you'll enjoy this one. You really need to read the other one first. Oh and the cover? A gazillion time better than the first one with burn-victim-come-phantom on it. (I know it was for a series but it sucked.)

We are Such Stuff by Sunny Moraine (12 pages)

12 pages of WTFery? Wow. This is set in the future where thanks to global warming it rains all the time, no polar ice cap, major cities flooded and abandoned and all kinds of new drugs on the market. Reyes is at the club and has taken something called "sharper" and sees a guy across the room. He eventually kind of drifts over but after touching him goes outside as the drug wears off. The guy follows him and he's got weird changing eyes and is kind of odd and tells Reyes to chase him. They end up at the mall where after hours all these people addicted to "dreaming" another type of drug that has you in a dream-state just wander around like zombies. Reyes' sister is addicted to this stuff. He catches a girl who trips which seems to mystify Ethan who take Reyes home and they have hot smexin' with maybe some other drug, but maybe not, maybe it's a dream and Ethan is talking about leaving because he needs more light and it's all very mystical and what/who is Ethan and is there drugs, is there not. Whoa, trippy. So it was one of the most bizarre things I've ever read. Well, maybe not ever but it was out there. Bad? Not necessarily, but definitely different.


Marvin the Marmot Falls in Love by Aaron Michaels (14 pages)

In direct contrast to the above story we have this one. A light adorable humorous story of finding love in a mascot suit. Gerry is the college mascot who gets beaned in the head by a football. His crush the quarterback helps him up but he refuses to take off his head. Later after showering the quarterback comes looking for him to apologise and admit that he has a crush on Gerry (even though he didn't know who was in the mascot). Spencer used to be a mascot so appreciates the skill involved. They have a bit of a make-out session and then Spencer asks him out. That's about it really but I found myself chuckling a few times, especially when Gerry is trying to find out if Spencer is into furries and that's why he's attracted. Very cute little story and as I said, night and day from the one above.

O'Carolan's Seduction by P.D. Singer (19 pages)


Hugh is from Ireland and he works in an Irish pub. It irks the hell out of him when people ask him about Ireland but he knows laying it on thick gets tips and he's a university student so needs the money. He's asked to work on a music night when he normally doesn't and sees Steven who plays something like Irish bagpipes. He's attracted and also annoyed that Steven is wearing a kilt, not Irish. But he gets a ride home with him and the next week Steven asks him over to check out his musical instruments. *wink* *wink* Seems Steven had to wear a kilt when he lost a bet and now he wears them all the time. Needless to say they hook up after playing with the instruments. I never really got why Hugh was trying to break ties with Ireland. I got that he wasn't keen on the stance against gays in that country being very conservative but there seemed to be more to it than that but it wasn't really clear. It was like he wanted to escape all things Irish for some mysterious reason but knew it paid the bills. So I would have liked a bit more background on him and Steven as well. All you know is he's a professional musician who plays in a semi-famous quartet, but nothing more. So even with 20 pages I was left a bit mystified as to who these two guys are. If you are into the Irish heritage there are lots of words and songs and phrases that really didn't mean much to me but to someone who understand it more it would likely be a real treat. Oh and I'm of Scottish descent so I'm all about the kilt. :-)

Hot Ticket by K.A. Mitchell (97 pages)



I thought I'd put some of my books that I have re-read and never mentioned before. This was one of the first books I bought in my m/m buying career and it holds a special place. I think I was VERY lucky and had some great books right off the bat when I started reading but it's like your first kiss, always holds a special place.

Cade has 16 facial piercings (Elliott counted) and is on recycling duty as part of community service for trashing his ex's car. Elliott is there for possessing stolen property (bought a stolen purse). They both grab an envelope with tickets for a concert and agree to meet after to decide who gets them. Elliott is the opposite of rude, pierced, tattooed Cade. He's 10 year's younger, a travel agent, "nice boy". Yet he's fascinated by Cade and when a few nights later Cade invites him to a concert he goes against his better judgement. Cade's piece of crap car breaks down after some weird concert and they are stuck in the mountains in the winter. They end up getting down in the back seat and after finally getting home kind of settle into seeing each other. Cade is Elliott's first (beyond BJ's) and things are going well until Cade runs into his ex at the concert they found the tickets for and he freaks and tries to give Elliott the brush off. Something I thought was interesting which is not usually touched on was that Cade's ex had been having unsafe sex and he'd been tested but had to wait until his 6 month test came back clean. I always understood that you needed that 6 month window but I know in most books once they get that first test that they are clean everything is bareback city. Anyway, I love me some tattooed pierced bad boys and the opposites attract thing. There's really not much to the plot, just the guys trying to form a relationships, Cade's insecurity at Elliott's youth and what that will mean. But when I want a comfort read it's a go-to for me. In general I love this author's work but this was my first taste.